


Auld Acquaintance Ending Revisited

by Viva_Islenska



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Batfamily Feels, F/M, Fights, Gen, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 11:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8623411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viva_Islenska/pseuds/Viva_Islenska
Summary: A revisit to and a different version of the ending of S1xE26 'Auld Acquaintance.' I added some H/C, some guilt and a little bonding Kryptonian-style. Some Bat family too if that floats your boat.





	1. Chapter 1

_Remember, Klarion is pulling their strings, Klarion is pulling their strings,_ thought Robin to himself as he prepared to square off against his father and mentor.

Batman stood menacingly up to his full height, stared Robin right in the eyes and cracked his knuckles. It was on.

Robin flew on the offensive first. After tossing three smoke pellets, he threw the first kick but Batman easily dodged it and gave Robin a right hook to the jaw. The bird was thrown off balance and momentarily stunned.

Superboy engaged his own mentor, and the Man of Steel gained the upper hand as he landed three Krypton-shattering punches on the young clone within a matter of seconds.

Then, thanks to protective interference from Sphere and Wolf, Superman was distracted from the fight, giving Miss Martian an opportunity to cure Martian Manhunter and Superboy to regain his footing.

Enraged at the loss of control over Martian Manhunter, Superman attacked Miss Martian, who in her White Martian form was knocked clean off of her feet. This, in turn, enraged the clone beyond measure.

But Superboy's rage unbalanced him, and instead of planning a cunning attack on the Man of Steel, he lunged at him from behind. The sloppy maneuver was easily thwarted by Superman's speed, and the Boy Scout turned and gave his clone a punch with such devastating force, that Superboy plummeted clean through the concrete flooring and two more levels of flooring beneath them.

Robin was still engaged with Batman, trying to evade his attacks and backflip himself onto higher ground. But Batman was able to land a devastating kick to Robin's torso. When Robin painfully skidded fifteen feet away, he took the opportunity to break out his escrima sticks and get back on the offensive.

But Robin was injured and fatigued and his offensive would be short-lived. After several missed swings with his sticks, he attempted a jump kick at the Dark Knight. Batman easily plucked him out the air by his foot, and swung the disoriented acrobat into the wall behind them. When Robin looked back to see where Batman had gone, the Cape Crusader had disappeared.

Robin looked quickly around to locate Batman, but was ambushed by the stealthy Dark Knight from behind. Batman landed an uppercut to Robin's jaw so fierce that the bird was knocked off of his feet and down into the Superboy-shaped hole in the concrete flooring.

Comepletely stunned by the force of blow, the bird fell down two stories to where Superboy lay.

 _Robin!_ Thought Superboy when he saw the bird falling toward him, but he was too weak to get up and try to catch him. In horror, Conner watched as Robin came crashing down almost on top of him, executing a less-than-graceful landing.

* * *

A dazed Robin realized he was falling and that he had to come up with some semblance of a landing soon or else this fight would be over for him. He was miraculously able to angle himself feet first onto the concrete floor. But it was a sloppy landing at best.

With a crash and a roll the bird grunted painfully and sprawled into Superboy

* * *

Robin was in an astounding amount of pain and he could tell that things were broken inside of him. But he and Superboy had to keep going- they had to end this. He rubbed and probed his dislocated jaw and closed his eyes tightly as he gave it a shove back into its rightful place.

After a couple deep breaths he was able to fight through the pain and find his voice again. "Superboy! Are you ok?" he called, trying to pick himself off of the floor. His right leg protested sharply and his ribs were on fire.

"I'm fine," said Conner standing up and steadying the bird. The younger hero couldn't stand up all the way and blood was trickling out of the corner of his mouth on the side where Batman had struck him. "But you're not."

"It's going to have to wait," said Robin watching as the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel leapt off of the highest concrete level and decended to finish off their protégés for good. "We're not gonna beat them one-on-one! Shot put!"

"Robin we can't! You're in no condition!"

"We have to! Now!" exclaimed Robin getting into position.

Reluctantly, Conner grabbed the small acrobat the arm, spun him around twice to gain momentum,and shot-putted him squarely into the body of the approaching Bat. His aim was perfect. He now he had Superman to worry about.

The Man of Steel came at his clone again with his full Kryptonian strength but Conner was able to roll away out of his deadly reach. He then grabbed the larger man from behind and tried to hold him in a vice grip.

* * *

Meanwhile Robin, had collided with Batman mid-air and the two slammed bodily into a concrete wall behind them. Robin reached down to plant a Cure-O-Tech chip on the back of the Caped Crusader's neck, but the older hero caught on and grabbed the bird by his wrist and threw him head first into the floor.

With a sickening crunch, Robin was slammed into the ground, breaking even more bones and dazing himself almost to the point of unconsciousness.

 _Almost_ , but not. He turned his head to the side to see that Conner was holding onto Superman with all of the strength that he could muster but that it wouldn't last.

"Robin! _Hurry_!" grunted the Boy of Steel knowing that he couldn't hold onto his mentor for much longer.

Robin came to his senses and managed to pick himself up again, gave Batman an uppercut and tossed his last remaining smoke pellet. Through the billowing plume he deftly reached up into one of the pouches of the Bat's utility belt and pilfered a small lead box. He then slid between the Bat's legs and ran limping over to where the Kryptonians were engaged in their struggle.

"You sure about this?" asked Robin fingering the tiny lead box and running as fast as his broken body would allow.

"Just do it!" grunted the clone.

Robin opened the box containing the shining green mineral and waited for the Kryptonians to weaken enough so that he could slip in and place the cure onto the Man of Steel's neck. The effect on the Kryptonians was immediate. Both grunted and their faces contorted in matching agony as they both slid helplessly down onto the floor.

Robin slammed the box shut within seconds but it was enough time to weaken the Kryptonians substantially. He crouched down next to the Man of Steel and placed the cure on his neck. After watching it dissolve properly he reached down to his teammate and friend.

"So sorry about that Supey," said Robin glancing Conner over quickly and lending a hand to help him up.

Conner was in a lot of pain from his reaction to the deadly mineral, but he was able to crack his eyes open and look into the masked face of his friend.

"Ugh, Kryptonite," said the clone wincing and rubbing his head. "Ugh, that hurts."

But before he could reach out and grab onto Robin's hand, the small acrobat was pummeled by a dark shape from behind and his body when sprawling like a rag doll ten meters away.

"No!" cried the young Kryptonian trying to rise.

Batman looked at Superboy in his weakened state and dismissed him as a threat. He then walked over to where Robin laid bloodied on the floor and picked the boy up by his throat.

The bird was choking and sputtering and trying to clutch at Batman's arms with his hands but he was too injured and Batman was too strong. It was no use.

* * *

Conner saw the Bat slowly crushing the life of out his own protégé and something inside of him strengthened his resolve. He picked himself up and out from underneath the immensely heavy Man of Steel and charged at Batman.

Caught completely off guard by the Kryptonian's swift recovery, a stunned Batman dropped Robin to the ground. The young bird landed in a boneless heap and didn't move.

* * *

Now the fight was on between the Boy of Steel and the Dark Knight. Even if Conner was at full capacity the fight would be a challenge for the less experienced younger hero, but he was the last man standing against Savage's evil plot.

Using a move that Black Canary had taught him, he spun and lifted the bat over his shoulders and threw him into a concrete support column.

* * *

Somehow, perhaps fueled by adrenaline or fueled by his concern for both his mentor and his Team, Robin picked himself up and crawled over behind the pillar where Superboy had Batman pinned.

He took a wide arc around the two heroes that were locked in combat and went behind the pillar. Conner saw what Robin was up to and held the Dark Knight as tightly as he could.

A gloved and shaking hand appeared from behind the pillar and planted a Cure-O-Tech chip on the Bat's neck. Finally, the last standing infected League member's mind was free from Klarion's techo-sorcery. Sedated, he slid heavily to the floor.

* * *

It all happened so quickly that Conner barely had to time to register it. He was panting heavily and sweating as he still felt weak from being exposed to the green mineral. He looked down at the Dark Knight and then at the young hero who had helped him end it all.

The bird was bleeding and coughing and struggling to rise.

"Robin! You did it!" said the clone reaching down to help his friend.

Wiping blood away from his mouth with the back of his gloved hand, Robin smiled up at the clone " _We_ did it. Together."

Just then a yellow blur appeared in the room followed by the other members of the Team. They were tired and bruised but in relatively good shape and relieved to see that all of the members of the League had been cured.

But one member of their Team had not fared so well. As Conner tried to help Robin to stand, the acrobat collapsed back to the floor with a groan.

Conner was unable to get Robin to stand and Kid Flash gasped in dismay when he saw the state of his best friend.

"Rob! Robin!?" said Wally taking a knee next to the bird. "Dude, are you alright? What happened?"

Robin was dazed but he glanced up at the speedster. "We faced off against the big guy and the Dark Knight," began Robin coughing and wincing. "They weren't… whelmed."

Robin's eyes slid shut with one last groan and he fell unconscious.

"Rob!" cried Wally in distress. "Don't worry buddy we've got you."

Megan levitated the acrobat and floated him swiftly to the infirmary.


	2. Chapter 2

Wally sped around the Watch Tower looking for any of the leaguers that were qualified to help Robin. He found Roy and Martian Manhunter and asked them to help. They ran immediately to the infirmary to tend to the wounded bird.

Once Robin was safely under the care of Red Arrow and Martian Manhunter in the infirmary, the rest of the Team set off to revive the members of Justice League. Wally set off to find all of Red Tornado's limbs and, under the android's guidance, begin to repair him.

* * *

Batman and Superman were the last members of Just League to be revived, and they were just as confused as their colleagues.

Batman woke up to find himself laying prone on the floor of the Watch Tower's main atrium, with a pink butterly-shaped pillow from the Mount Justice dormitories under his head and a dazed looking Superman laying next to him. In fact, he began to realize that almost all of the members of the Justice League were in a similar situation. All in various stages of being roused out of a trance and all extremely confused. He scowled at the pillow and tossed into a colorfully arrayed pile of other discarded pillows and throw pillows that looked suspiciously similar to the one's in Zatanna and Megan's bedrooms.

"Clark," mumbled Bruce under his breath to the Man of Steel next to him as they both stood up off of the ground and tried to clear their thoughts. "What in the hell happened here?"

"I was just wondering that myself," said Clark softy to his friend as he rubbed the back of his head. The Man of Steel was pale and sweaty and looked as though he had come down with a slight fever.

Then the clamor of the atrium was disturbed by an announcement on the Watch Tower's PA system. It was Aqualad's calm voice.

"Justice League, may I have your attention please," he began. "I know that you are confused but I wish to inform you that the danger has passed and I seek to explain what happened here tonight. Please convene in the main conference room at once."

* * *

Clark, Bruce and the other members of the League filed out of the atrium and took their seats at their U-Shaped table in the conference room.

Aqualad was patiently waiting for them and deeply dreading what he was about to inform the Justice League. He knew that knowledge of their actions would generate great guilt and sadness.

Nevertheless, he knew that the League needed to know exactly what had occurred. He began the long task of explaining in depth what had transpired and who was behind it. He showed footage from all of the security cameras and entertained all questions from the shocked members of the Justice League. At long last, he was finished.

Superman sat staring wide-eyed at the last frame of the footage. Wonder Woman placed her head in her hands and sat quietly. Flash was vibrating in his seat with distress while Green Arrow was trying to console him. But the most dismayed and upset member of the League sat quietly at first, then suddenly gritted his teeth and pounded a black gauntlet into the table with such force that it cracked the granite surface with ease.

Shortly after that, the Dark Knight took his leave and headed to the one place he was sure to find his protégé. A place where he himself had sent him. He was beyond disgusted with his action.

Flash made to get up and follow him, but Clark reached out and hand and gently stopped him.

"Let him go, Barry," he said to the Speedster solemnly. "Let Bruce handle it the Bat way."

Barry nodded and took his place at the table once more.

"So then where's the rest of the Team? Where'd you guys take Red Tornado?" asked the Flash as Kaldur powered down the holographic presentation system. The rest of the Justice League was wondering the same.

"Kid Flash has taken Red Tornado to his quarters and is making repairs to him as we speak," began Kaldur. "Superboy is with Robin in the infirmary."

Clark nodded in acknowledgment. He had expected as much after seeing the footage of the Kryptonite. The boy would need sun light he didn't doubt. Hell, he needed a healthy dose of it himself.

Kaldur continued. "Miss Martian, Zatanna, Artemis and Rocket are assessing the damage made to the watch tower."

"Probably trying to occupy their thoughts after what happened here tonight," said Black Canary to the group. "Come on, Ollie let's go see how they are and try to get them to rest."

Green Arrow nodded in agreement and set off with Black Canary.

"And I should go up to Red's room to help Kid," said Flash before a gust blew through the room and he was gone.

Clark remained at the table, unsure of what he should do.

"I know what you're thinking, Clark," said Wonder Woman from across the table.

Clark was startled that she was still here. She looked into his eyes knowingly and reached across the table and placed a slender, callused hand on top of his.

"I've known you long enough that I don't need J'onn's abilities to know what you're thinking, my friend," Diana said. "Go to him. And if you need to talk afterward, you know where to find me."

Clark looked up at the Amazon princess. _Dammit she's right._ He nodded to her and stood up to make his way to follow Bruce to the infirmary, to check on Superboy, his clone... _Conner_.

* * *

Clark entered the infirmary and quietly assessed what was afoot in the large room. But before he got a good look at everything, he was confronted by a large, snarling and furious white wolf.

"Easy, Wolf," soothed Conner to the angry canine. "He's not here to hurt us."

Wolf ceased snarling but, with narrowed eyes, remained squared up in between Clark and the other occupants in the room. After sniffing and eying Superman suspiciously, he decided that the threat was indeed gone and he turned and padded away to take his place sleeping next to Conner's chair.

"He did the same thing to me," came a gruff brooding voice from the bedside next to where Conner was sitting. The Dark Knight hadn't bothered to turn around and sat hunched over the sleeping and bandaged form of his young ward.

Clark took in the sight of his own protégé and the sight of Robin. Knowing that Robin had fared much worse during the events of the evening, he inquired about the young acrobat first.

"Is he doing alright over there, Bats?" asked Superman solemnly and doing his own x-ray of the young sleeping hero. Indeed he was banged up, but everything had been set properly and would heal well in time.

"No worse than he's seen before," came the gruff, terse response that brooked no further questioning. Clark knew that tone well enough not to inquire further. He left the Bat to his sulking vigil and turned to his clone.

"And how are you? I saw the footage, you did extremely good work here tonight," said the Man of Steel to the abashed clone.

Conner sat in a exam chair nursing a deep head ache and pain in his back and chest.

"I'm fine, just a little sore. Manhunter says you know what to do," replied the clone.

"Indeed I do. Can you stand? We need to take a little trip," said Clark reaching his hand out to the clone.

Conner grabbed onto the Man of Steel's hand struggling slightly as he tried to stand up.

Superman noticed his pain and reached down for a firmer grip and took more of his weigh.  
"Easy there, Conner, I've got you."

Alarmed, Conner looked up to his mentor. "You… you used my name."

"I did," said Clark to Conner, walking him to the door. "Is that alright? I hear you took the name Conner Kent. My secret identity is Clark Kent."

Stunned and embarrassed, Conner blurted out "Oh! I didn't know… I wasn't trying to…"

Clark stopped him before he could continue. "No, you see the thing is, I'm glad. It seems _right._ "

Conner smiled at this response and felt an immense amount of relief and … happiness.

"Wolf," Conner called over his shoulder before the door closed behind the Kryptonians. "I'll be back soon. Go find Sphere and give the Bats some space."

As soon as the Kryptonians departed for their trip to bathe in unfiltered sunlight and heal, Wolf padded over to where Robin lay and licked the young hero's hand. He then looked knowingly up into the face of Batman, and laid his head heavily on the Dark Knight's lap for a few long moments before obediently padding out of the room to find Sphere.

* * *

When the door closed behind Wolf, Batman let out a long sigh and removed his cowl.

"Oh, son," he said lamenting and gazing down on the Dick's sleeping form. "What have I done to you?"

Dick lay in a deep sedated slumber. His uniform and had all been removed and replaced with nothing but a comfortable pair of sweat pants from the infirmary wardrobe. The only article that remained of his uniform was his mask.

Bruce reached down and gently peeled the black mask away revealing the young face beneath. Sometimes it was so easy to forget how young Dick really was. Especially considering his talent, his intelligence, his maturity, his ability to lead others older than he, and his accomplishments. But during moments like this, Dick really did look his age.

In addition to severe bruising from a dislocated and reset jaw and lacerations on his face, Dick had three broken ribs, a concussion and a hairline fracture in his right tibia. He in short, had taken a massive beating over an extended period of time and was able to fight through it all until the very end. Bruce smiled with pride and stroked an errant lock of black hair of the young hero's face.

As gentle as his touch was, the gesture set Dick's eyelids to twitching.

He groaned gently and looked up into the face of his mentor. "Bruce?" he asked sleepily.

"I'm here, partner," replied Bruce grabbing Dick's hand. "Do you remember what happened at the Watch Tower tonight?"

"I do," said Dick trying to sit up. "Are you okay?"

Bruce had to chuckle. "Just fine, son. Much better than you it would seem."

Dick was momentarily relieved at this information but then started again in agitation. "How's Superman and Superboy?! Oh God, Bruce, I used Kryptonite on them! Is everyone ok?"

"Easy, partner. Calm down," soothed Bruce. "You did what you had to do and everyone is fine. Clark and Conner are in outer space bathing in sunlight as we speak and everyone else is around the Watch Tower relaxing and heading home soon.

Dick visibly relaxed and took a deep sigh of relief. An action that sent his broken rib bones ablaze with pain. "Nnn," he groaned quietly.

Bruce squeezed his hand more tightly. "I'm so sorry, Dick. I'm so sorry that this happened and so sorry that you had to fight me."

"Bruce, are you serious?" asked Dick incredulously. "You had no control! You didn't attack us on purpose! That was all Klarion and Savage's fault."

"I know, Dick," began Bruce. "But I saw the footage, and I saw what you and Conner were up against and what I did to you. I want you do know that I truly am sorry and will do everything in power to never let anything like that happen again."

"Bruce," replied Dick astonished. "That is absolutely 100% whelmingly implied. Please don't feel guilty about this. Those jerks will get what they have coming, and you are going to be the one who leads us to finding them and bringing them to Justice. It's what you do." Dick squeezed his mentor's hand in affectionate return.

Bruce could do nothing but smile and nod. The two heroes shared a long moment of comfortable silence together. Each so glad that the other was alright and here with them.

"Thank you for understanding," said Bruce.

"Thank _you_ for not killing us," said Dick lightly.

"Aw dude, _way_ too soon!" exclaimed a newcomer's voice.

Apparently Wally had made his way to the infirmary and seen fit to bust in on the Bat family without permission or warning.

"Dude!" said Dick startled. " _Major_ breach of privacy here, KF!"

"Oh. Right," said the speedster sheepishly. "Sorry! But everyone's been worried!"

"It's alright, Wally," said Batman standing up to his full height and pulling his cowl up and over his head. "You and Dick can have some time together. One hour, Dick, then I'm taking you home. Agent A has your bed made up and your favorite breakfast waiting. Wally, we have plenty and you're more than welcome to join."

"Sweet!" said Wally excited to go home to visit with his best friend... oh and have some of Alfred's amazing cooking.

Bruce gave a half smile and without another word, the Dark Knight took his leave.

Wally was positively vibrating with joy. "Dude! You're awake!" he belted out reaching down to give his best friend a hug and passing him his dark glasses.

"Oh, am I?" asked Robin grinning at his best friend. Wally returned the grin.

"Might wanna put these on, bro. You're about to have company," Wally handed him the glasses and gave him a bawdy wink.

"Oh yeah?" asked Robin hopefully, unfolding and donning his signature eyewear.

"Yup," said the speedster smugly.

Moments later Zatanna entered the room followed by the rest of the Team except Conner and Megan.

After some harsh whispers from both Artemis and Raquel, Zatanna blushed but then strode boldly over to Robin's bedside.

"Happy New Year," she whispered to him before leaning down and planting a kiss on Robin's lips.

The stunned bird took a few seconds to regain his composure before reaching up and wrapping his hands gently under the witch's hair and returning the kiss.

"Where's mine?" said Artemis standing with her hands on her hips and glaring at Wally.

Then she too was surprised when Wally lifted her up off the ground and held her affectionately to his chest. "I shoulda done this a long time ago," said the speedster leaning in for his New Year's kiss too.

"No kidding," agreed Artemis before kissing Wally in return.

"I'm liking this Team more every day," said Raquel saucily as she strutted up to Kaldur to claim her festive kiss.

It was a successful New Year's Even for the team. A very good omen for the year to come.


End file.
